A Weekend of Firsts

Even at my age, there are still things in my life that happen for the first time, or I do them for the first time.

Sometimes I call something a "First" when it is the first of its kind referring to a particular season, such as the first bee I see in spring, or the first Christmas card I receive in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

There has been such a seasonal "First" last Satuday: It was warm and sunny enough for the first time this spring to make me wear the butterfly earrings my sister gave me back in December. Those earrings have been waiting in my drawer ever since, waiting for winter to end, and Saturday was simply perfect. I also wore the yellow t-shirt for the first time this season; you can't really see it in the picture, but it has "Spring" stitched on the front.

For almost two hours, I was sat on my window sill in the sun, soaking up the warmth and the light, listening to the birds and my neighbours' murmured conversation on the patio below.

On Sunday, I had a real, proper, first-time-ever FIRST:

my very first dance lesson!!

A friend of mine had been going on about wanting to teach me how to dance for weeks, and on Sunday, we finally started.

When I was at that age when everybody takes dance lessons at school with the whole class, I was so NOT interested in all that - the girls in my class were all about make-up and fashion and boys, while I was keen on sports and books (add to that me being an ugly, bespectacled, complex-ridden bundle of pubescent insecurities) and had no intention to join them in what I deemed utterly silly and boring.

Later, I took to dancing on my own; at the clubs and discos I went to as a teenager, people did not dance as couples, the music and the atmosphere not lending itself to it at all.

During my first marriage, I attended several Italian weddings, where people did of course dance the proper, formal ballroom dances - with me always being the onlooker, never participating.

So, in spite of me loving to sing and dance, I never actually was interested in learning how to dance properly - until yesterday afternoon, when I had my very first ever dance lesson in my living room!

We chose Rumba; my friend said it is easy, and I like Latin dance music, so I did not object.

How did I fare? According to my friend, not bad for someone who is an absolute beginner; he said that he taught me in 90 minutes what usually is enough material for several beginner's lessons. I myself am not quite so convinced; I felt quite clumsy but at least after a little while I was able to stop looking at my feet and enjoy the whole thing.

There will be more lessons, and I think I will eventually get the hang of it; I am not totally unmusical and do possess something like a sense of rhythm, which I guess will come in handy.

Oh, and still on Saturday, there was another seasonal First: My first birthday card for this year, sent from England by my sister-in-law :-)

Actually, my birthday is still more than a fortnight away, but I have already put it there on the sideboard in my living room, where hopefully some more cards will join this one in time.